For the collegiate athletes the conference weekend is the beginning of their real indoor season – conference followed by national titles. So the best of the collegiates will be on display. That means the Big 12 Conference, the Pac 10 Conference, and the SEC. The sports’ “Big Three” collegiate conferences when it comes to track and field and the sports “Big Three” teams – Texas A&M, Oregon, and Florida!
These are the conferences and teams that have emerged over the past decade as the cream of the crop in collegiate track and field – the teams that are always right there in the thick of the national championship battle. Look no further than the current rankings
Based on the USTFCCCA Computer Rankings the top 10 teams heading into this weekend are:
Men
| 1 | Florida |
| 2 | LSU |
| 3 | Indiana |
| 4 | Texas A&M |
| 5 | Arkansas |
| 6 | Stanford |
| 7 | BYU |
| 8 | Texas |
| 9 | Oklahoma |
| 10 | Penn State |
Women
| 1 | Oregon |
| 2 | LSU |
| 3 | Texas |
| 4 | Arkansas |
| 5 | Texas A&M |
| 6 | Tennessee |
| 7 | Florida State |
| 8 | Oklahoma |
| 9 | UCF |
| 10 | BYU |
Last year’s top finishing teams at the NCAA Indoor Championships were:
Men
| 57 pts | Florida |
| 44 pts | Oregon |
| 44 pts | Texas A&M |
| 42 pts | LSU |
| 38 pts | Arkansas |
| 25 pts | Indiana |
| 21 pts | Arizona State |
| 18 pts | Northern Arizona |
| 18 pts | South Carolina |
| 18 pts | New Mexico |
| 18 pts | Minnesota |
Women
| 61 pts | Oregon |
| 36 pts | Tennessee |
| 35 pts | LSU |
| 33 pts | Florida |
| 31 pts | Texas A&M |
| 28 pts | Auburn |
| 20 pts | Clemson |
| 20 pts | Florida State |
| 20 pts | UTEP |
| 18 pts | Iowa St, Virginia Tech, West Virginia |
Look for some combination of these teams to be at the top of the heap when the championships are handed out again this year.
Defending women’s champ Oregon’s top performers heading into conference weekend:
| Event | Mark | Athlete |
| 60 | 7.25 | Amber Purvis |
| 200 | 23.27 | Amber Purvis |
| 800 | 2:06.64 | Laura Roessler |
| Mile | 4:34.75 | Jordan Hassay |
| Mile | 4:36.32 | Anne Kesselring |
| 3000 | 9:05.42 | Jordan Hassay |
| 3000 | 9:08.60 | Alex Kosinski |
| 5000 | 15:44.60 | Alex Kosinski |
| HJ | 6’ 0” | Brianne Theissen |
| PV | 14’ 3.5” | Melissa Gergel |
| LJ | 20’ 6.5” | Jamesha Youngblood |
| Pent | 4507 | Brianne Theissen |
Defending men’s champ Florida’s top performers heading into conference weekend:
| Event | Mark | Athlete |
| 60 | 6.57 | Jeff Demps |
| 60 | 6.64 | Terrell Wilks |
| 200 | 20.88 | Tony McQuay |
| 200 | 21.01 | Leonardo Seymore |
| 400 | 45.95 | Tony McQuay |
| Mile | 3:56.84 | Dumisane Hlaselo |
| LJ | 26’ 1” | Will Claye |
| TJ | 55’ 10.25” | Will Claye |
| TJ | 55’ .25” | Christian Taylor |
| TJ | 53’ 1.5” | Omar Craddock |
| SP | 63’ 4” | Kemal Mesic |
| Hep | 5747 | Gray Horn |
That’s how things look today. I’m sure there will be a lot of change after the dust has settled Sunday. Once the conferences are complete I’ll take a hard look at trying to handicap the NCAA meet. It should be another hot one – as should this weekend’s conference meets.